How To Get Free Followers On Instagram: Going From 0 To 15,000+

a cover of the article on how to get Instagram followers for free

Whether you’re a savvy business owner or a regular Instagram user, you might be curious to learn how to increase your Instagram followers for free. Well, there’s good news! The process isn’t as daunting as you might think. In this guide, we’ll outline a strategy to help you amass from 0 to 15,000 Instagram followers!

The Power of Instagram Followers in Building Your Business

Venturing into a business comes with the exciting task of creating its social media accounts. Given that 86% of brands maintain a presence on Instagram, it’s crucial for you to harness this platform for marketing purposes. Instagram provides an exceptional platform to connect with potential customers while nurturing a loyal fanbase.

Tools such as Instagram Stories, Instagram Live, and DMs make connecting with today’s consumer more straightforward than ever. In fact, the Instagram effect is so potent that 92% of consumers admitted to purchasing a product, visiting a website, or following a brand after encountering it on Instagram.

Today, we’ll discuss strategies for increasing your Instagram followers at different stages of your brand’s journey. We’ve divided these strategies according to follower count milestones.

#1. Getting Your First 100 Instagram Followers

Setting up your account is the first step in your journey. You need a unique username and secure log-in credentials. When you’re just starting, several steps will help you gain followers and increase brand visibility.

Instagram Bio

Firstly, ensure your brand logo is uploaded as your profile avatar and that your profile description accurately represents your brand, including a website URL. Adding your Instagram handle to your website and any email marketing communications is a must. This creates a seamless transition for your followers to connect with you across platforms.

Hashtags

Hashtag research that also displays “related hashtags” to help you out.

Once your social media accounts are set up, delve into the more substantial task of growing your Instagram account.

Observe competitors to understand the content and hashtags they use, and how they engage their followers. Compile a list of hashtags for your posts and devise a content strategy. Consider various content types, such as product shots, motivational quotes, or brand ethos. There are countless ways to craft an authentic brand narrative on Instagram.

Tagged photos

The “tagged photos” tab on Nike’s profile.

Once you’ve established a regular posting routine, look out for posts where you’re tagged. Engage with these posts by responding or reposting them onto your own feed and tagging the user. Utilize reposting apps like Repost for Instagram or Repost app for this purpose.

Don’t forget grassroots marketing efforts, like engaging in niche-related posts and relevant brand pages for wider exposure.

#2. Climbing to 1,000 Instagram Followers

Congratulations! Reaching the four-digit mark is a significant milestone on your journey to becoming a recognized brand. This stage calls for a higher level of engagement with your audience.

Instagram Stories

Options to post on Instagram Stories.

If you haven’t already done so, explore the “Questions” or “Polls” features in Instagram Stories.

They are excellent tools for promoting audience engagement. Post schedulers such as Hootsuite or Hopper HQ can save you time on manual uploading, allowing you to concentrate on creating engaging content.

H&M uses Instagram Stories to promote an eco-friendly cause.

Giveaways

Another way to stimulate engagement is by running giveaways or contests. Not only does this increase followers, but it also demonstrates your appreciation for their loyalty. Continue to engage in grassroots marketing to extend your reach within your niche.

I Can Wines holds a giveaway for a free case of its wine.

Up the ante on incentives to follow, too. Why not celebrate the big 1-0-0-0 with a giveaway, or just run a contest? This will really take your brand above and beyond and, add Instagram followers, and show them that you appreciate their loyalty.

And although you’re in the 1,000 range, continue to engage in grassroot marketing to build up your presence in accounts similar to that of your brand or in those that your target audience would like.

3. 5,000 Instagram Followers

Having accumulated four thousand followers, it’s time to amplify your marketing efforts to attract more followers.

TMRWXTODAY partners with Dr. Shereene Idriss to share tips to its audience.

At this stage in your branding efforts, you can consider reaching out to influencers or expert figures in your business or product industry for collaborations or takeovers.

With the higher stakes, (if you have a budget), you can consider paid ads. In this case, you’ll have video or images that show up as sponsored posts in the Instagram feeds of your target demographic. This level of targeted ads can pay off in dividends if you have a lot of visitors click through your CTA and make a purchase from your website or follow your Instagram account.

And maybe you’ve done this already before hitting 5,000 followers. Yet it’s important at this point to analyze results: study your analytics for your Instagram account. Also, reassess your content strategy to see if anything needs to be changed or eliminated.

4. 10,000 Instagram Followers

By hitting 10,000, you’ve really come a long way. At this point, you should definitely have a robust strategy for your content, switching it up between photos and video and funny content and informative content.

Continue to seek out partnerships with influencers or field experts to build your social proof and brand authority. If you haven’t before hitting 10,000 followers, consider paying for ads on Instagram.

And if you didn’t hold one for different milestones, definitely think about some sort of giveaway or raffle to your Instagram followers. You can even hold multiple ones at this point and space them out to coincide with holidays or seasons such as summer or Christmas.

Swipe-up link

Naked Juice utilises a swipe-up link (“Learn More”) to take viewers to a landing page.

One big thing that becomes unlocked at the 10K mark for Instagram is the ability to utilize a swipe-up link for your Instagram Stories. This makes the user experience much more seamless now, allowing viewers to access your CTA in one smooth motion.

Other channels

And at 10,000 followers, it’s time to consider what other resources you want to implement for your social media. You can consider hiring bigger talent to shoot higher-quality videos (if you don’t have an in-house production team). You can consider other hot platforms for brands such as TikTok or the ever-popular YouTube. Note not all platforms require a professional team (ex. TikTok is meant for being shot straight on one’s phone, while YouTube standards now favor HD quality from camera for video).

Also, you can think about expanding your blog (if your website has one). You can implement videos produced by your own company to liven up all your copy and images, or partner with industry experts to guest blog. Plus, you can do community outreach with bigger names like charities or causes that relate to your products (ex. If you sell car accessories, reach out to a driver safety awareness organization to donate some items for members). There’s so much you can do once you spread beyond Instagram followers.

5. 15,000 Instagram Followers and Beyond

Once you reach above 10,000, you’re a well-oiled branding machine. By this point, you’re probably seeing a lot of click-thrus and conversions from your Instagram to your linked content and website orders. You should continue doing everything mentioned in the milestones above.

Continue to reevaluate your content, comment back to people who engage with you, respond to DMs, and continue to produce images, captions, and video that is informative but can also brighten up someone’s day. For a brand to truly cement itself into a consumer’s heart, it has to offer something unique. It’s all about a feeling, an experience that just can’t be given by any other company.

SUMMARY: So many ideas, all showing you how to get Instagram followers for free (except for some apps you may utilize for your content). Going from zero to 100 and beyond is by no means easy, but it’s a long road of trying different content and engagement approaches to show followers (and strangers) that you are a well-informed expert (and fun, engaging brand) in your line of business.